HIGHCROFT INVESTMENTS - Key Persons

Charles Butler - Chairman

Job Titles:
  • Chairman of the Nomination Committee
  • Chartered Accountant
  • Member of the Audit Committee
  • Member of the Remuneration Committee
  • Non - Executive Chairman
Appointment to the board Charles joined the group as non-executive chairman in January 2018. He was considered to be independent upon appointment and is considered, by the board, to have remained independent throughout the year Charles holds the following appointments: Non-executive chairman of Best of the Best plc, an AIM listed company providing online competitions non-executive director of Essensys plc, a global provider of SaaS platforms and on-demand cloud services to the flexible workspace industry executive director of Belerion Capital Group Limited, an FCA regulated firm advising high net worth individuals and family offices. Previous experience/ brings to the board Charles is a chartered accountant who, prior to joining the board, was the CEO of Market Tech Holdings PLC, where he transformed a small group of central London real estate assets into a profitable, listed company with a £1.3bn portfolio. He has deep industry knowledge - not only in property but also in financial services and technology. With a successful track record in running public companies, M&A, raising equity and debt for expansion, Charles continues to be well positioned to help the company navigate its next phase of growth. Committee membership Member of the audit committee Chairman of the nomination committee Member of the remuneration committee

David Warlow

Job Titles:
  • Non - Independent Non - Executive Director
  • Director of Kingerlee Holdings Limited
Appointment to the board David joined the board as a non-executive director in August 2022. David holds the following appointments: David is a director of Kingerlee Holdings Limited, Kingerlee Homes Limited, Kingerlee Limited and T.H.Kingerlee & Sons Limited. Previous experience/ brings to the board David is a director of Kingerlee Holdings Limited, a construction and property development group of companies. David represents the interests of the Kingerlee Holdings Limited which, together with its subsidiaries, has an aggregate beneficial interest of 27.35% in the share capital of the Company and forms part of the Kingerlee Concert Party. In this role, he does not sit on any board committees.

Paul Leaf-Wright - CEO

Job Titles:
  • Chairman of the Executive Committee
  • Chief Executive
  • Chairman of Leaf Capital
Appointment to the board Paul joined the group as chief executive from 1 January 2023. Paul holds the following appointments: Paul is chairman of Leaf Capital as well as a non-executive director of some other non-listed company boards. Previous experience/ brings to the board Paul qualified as a Chartered Accountant in South Africa and has over 40 years of property and financial services experience. He established Leaf Capital in 2004 and is the company's chairman. He also co-founded Atlantic Leaf Properties in 2013, a UK Real Estate Investment Trust that invested, primarily, in industrial assets in the UK. Atlantic Leaf was listed on the JSE (South Africa) and SEM (Mauritius) markets and Paul was its CEO as a listed entity until August 2019. Paul built the portfolio to approximately £400m in assets, when the business was sold to a large private equity company. Under the ownership of the private equity group, Paul remained CEO until June 2022 when all the assets were sold. Paul previously held various senior roles in South African banking companies, including financial and strategy director, head of treasury, director of property and asset finance and head of wealth management. Committee membership Chairman of the executive committee

Roberta Miles - CFO

Job Titles:
  • Finance Director
  • Member of the Executive Committee
Appointment to the board Roberta joined the group in April 2010 and was appointed to the board as finance director and company secretary in July 2010. From October 2021, she continued in her role as finance director having relinquished her role as company secretary. Roberta holds the following appointments: Roberta is currently a director of MCD Ventures Limited. Previous experience/ brings to the board Roberta qualified as a chartered accountant in 1988 and, after leaving the profession in 1996, has maintained a portfolio of part-time executive board-level roles in a variety of businesses at various stages of their life cycle. Her acute attention to detail, financial acumen and business expertise are a valuable asset to the board, together with her project management capabilities. The board benefits greatly from the experience of her varied executive roles. Committee membership Member of the executive committee

Simon Costa

Job Titles:
  • Chairman of the Audit Committee
  • Chairman of the Remuneration Committee
  • Member of the Nomination Committee
  • Non - Executive Director
  • Senior Independent Director
Appointment to the board Simon joined the board as senior independent director in May 2015. Simon holds the following appointments: Simon is currently University Treasurer at the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, where his remit includes financial strategy and balance sheet management. Until recently, he was the finance director there, where he oversaw all the financial and related operations of the university. Previous experience/ brings to the board Simon was formerly the Senior Bursar of a college of the University of Oxford. He was responsible for overseeing the management of the endowment, and the finance and estates functions, and he served on all the college's core committees. Prior to that, he was an investment banker specialising in global M&A activities, and then for nine years he ran his own property company. In these roles, he advised US and UK public and private corporations on financial and related matters and owned a modest property portfolio. Simon's breadth of experience continues to provide the board with a greater range of market knowledge and skills, which are particularly relevant to a company in Highcroft's position. Committee membership Chairman of the audit committee Member of the nomination committee Chairman of the remuneration committee